Teleprinter receiving apparatus



Jan. 24, 1961 SMAHN PUNYARATBAND EIAL 2,969,429

TELEPRINTER RECEIVING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 17

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SMAHN PuNVA/MTBAND, Sumso OGAWA, M Burvzo FUJ'IO INVENTORS Arrow/m I Jan. 24, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 17, 1956 SIMHN PUNYARATBAND, SHIIIEO 06A WA, Auo Buuzo F um wt i5 I INVENTORS ll ATTORNEYS rather than the first.

United States Patent O TELEPRINTER RECEIVING APPARATUS Smahn Punyaratband, Bangkok, Thailand, and Shimeo Ogawa and Bunzo Fujio, both of Hanamaki-shi, Iwateken, Japan, assignors to Teiji Yamura, Hanamaki-shi, Iwate-ken, Japan Original application Oct. 17, 1956, Ser. No. 616,398,

now Patent No. 2,935,567, dated May 3, 1960. Divided and this application Feb. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 5,850

Claims priority, application Japan Dec. 24, 1955 I 3 Claims. (Cl. 178-25) This invention relates to a teleprinter receiving appa-v ratus, and more particularly to an apparatus in which the spacing function is eliminated at certain times in the operation of the apparatus.

This application is a division of our application Serial No. 616,398, filed October 17, 1956, now Patent No. 2,935,567, issued May 3, 1960.

An object of this invention is to provide a teleprinter apparatus adaptable for use with either the English language or a language such as Thai, Burmese or Indian.

A teleprinter keyboard which is standard for the Thai language has 42 keys, each having two characters thereon. The operation of the device on which the keyboard may be placed is similar to a device with akeyboard for use with the English language, in that to obtain the second character on the key, a shift key is utilized which adjusts the position of the carriage of the device, or alternatively the position of the type carrying bars, so that the second character strikes the platen of the machine In the Thai language, however, the second set of characters are not capitals, but are separate and different characters. The 42 keys have -16 Thai vowels, 54 Thai consonants, numerals, parentheses and two punctuation marks.

In the Thai language as in Burmese, Indian and Japanese, certain vowels and certain consonants are combined in one character to produce a complete letter. On the typewriters and teleprinter machines for use exclusively with these languages, certain of the keys using the combinable vowels are disconnected from-the spacing mechanism so that a second key may be struck and a second character produced in the same space as the vowel to produce the complete letter.

However, when a device for use with both English and one of the above languages is constructed, the keys with the combinable vowels for the Thai or like language can not be completely disconnected from the spacing mechanism because the English letters on the same keys occur only one to a space. Therefore it is necessary that when the Thai vowel is to be reproduced on the platen, the machine must not space, whereas when the English letter is to be reproduced on the platen, the machine must space.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a telepn'nter receiving apparatus for use with both English letters and letters in Thai or a like language, in which, when certain Thai letters are reproduced, the spacing function of the machine is eliminated, whereas when the English letter on the same key is to be reproduced, the machine will space normally.

The preferred embodiments of a device according to the invention are described in the following specification and are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a keyboard for use with a.combined English-Thai Teletype machine;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the essential parts of a form of the device according to the invention, in which some of the parts are shown partially in section.

There is shown in Fig. 1 a keyboard which will be helpful in understanding the operation of the device according to the invention. The upper characters on the keys correspond generally to the characters on a teleprinter or typewriter for use in the English language, while the characters in the middle and on the bottom of the keys are standard for a Teletype or typewriter for the Thai language. The eight keys outlined by the dotted lines at approximately the center of the keyboard contain the Thai vowels which occur in the same space as a consonant and combine with that consonant to form a complete letter. When striking one such key to reproduce either of the Thai vowels, it is desirable that the spacing function of the machine be eliminated, but when striking the key to reproduce the English letter thereon it is desirable that the machine space normally.

The platen 1a is pivoted to the apparatus on a rocker arm 2a pivoted about the pivot 3a. A plurality of type bars 4a, only one of which is shown, are pivoted in a conventional manner to be actuated by the type bar levers 17a, only one of which is shown, which type bar levers are in turn actuated by the pull bars 18a. The end of each type bar 4a carries the type 5a with three characters thereon, and all of the type bars 4a, the type bar levers 17a and the pull bars 18a together form a type basket (not shown). On the portion of the rocker arm 2a on the opposite side of pivot 3a from the platen 1a is pivoted a connecting rod 35 which is pivoted at its lower end to a bell crank 34. Bell crank 34 is pivoted on the apparatus so that the free end thereof reciprocates in a horizontal plane. A shift lever 33 having a notch in the end thereofis engaged by means of the notch with the free end of the bell crank 34, and is pivoted for horizontal movement around the pivot 38. Engaged with the shift lever 33 are a series of push bars which are adapted to pivot the shift lever about the pivot 38. Push bar 40 is adapted to pivot lever 33 sufficiently to lower the platen 1a an amount which enables the type 5a to strike the platen at the lowest point on the type, while push bars 41 move the shift lever 33 sufiiciently to enable the middle portion of the type Sa to strike the platen 1a. The push bar 38 pivots the shift lever 33 in the opposite direction to lift the platen 1a so that the upper-portion of the type 5a strikes the platen. The type basketis slidable parallel to the platen 1a under the action of the gear 32b acting on the rack 40a. Gear 32b is connected to gear 32a by a shaft 33a, and gear 32a is driven by a worm gear 31a on a shaft 25a. A series of six code bars 19a is also provided in the type basket in the path of the movement of the pull bars 18a, the machine being for six unit codes. A selector vane 1 is provided for each unit code and is connected with a selector part (not shown) to rotate about a shaft 2. Each selector vane 1 is connected with a code bar 5 by a bell crank 3 (only one of which is shown).

A pair of operating arms 12 are mounted on an operating shaft 21a. A strong spring 46 attached to one operating arm urges the operating arms to rotate with operating shaft 21a in one direction.

On the other of the operating arms 12 is an arm 12a having a roller 12b on the end thereof. Beneath .the roller 12]; and contacted thereby is an operating cam 14. Cam 14 is mounted on a shaft 13 which is rotated when the machine receives a signal to type a letter on the platen. Worm gear 31a is mounted on a shaft 25a frictionally engaged with shaft 12 by a frictional connection, 13a. v

.The operatingv shaft 2 1a, v which is driven from the "cam 14; on the shaft 13, is positioned beneath the type basketand carries a bail 20a on arm 12 which engages with a lug on the lower side of the pull bar 18a. When the bail 20a pivots, it pulls the pull bar 18a sothat the p the type bar lever 17a.

pull bar slides in the grooves in the code bars in the conventional manner and pivots the type bar 4a through On the other end of the bail. is. a, spacer bail 22g,

nte n s a t 5ai a a chetw eellfia ha in three teeth thereon (only two of which are shown) and two escapement pawls 23a and 2,4 1 are pivoted at 28a and have bent over arms on one end thereof in engagement with two of the teeth on the ratchet wheel 23a. The two escapement pawls are connected by a spring 30a. The escapernent pawls 24a extend to a point beneath the end of the spacer hail 22a, while the end of the escapement pawl 23a opposite. the end engaged with the ratchet wheel 2612 has pivotedthereto a spacer control crank 27a. One endof the crank extends to a point over the end of the spacer bail 22a, while the other end is connected to a spacer control link 38a. The end of the spacer control crank 27a.connected to the spacer control link 38a and the end of the pawl 23a to which the spacer control crank is pivoted are connected by a spring 29a.

The spacer control link 38a is actuatedby an electromagnet 16a having an arm 37a to which the other end of the spacer control link is pivoted, and which armris actuated by the electro-magnet. The electro-magnet 164 is grounded.

The energising controls for the electro-rnaguet' comprise a switch which is actuated by the, free end'of the rocker arm 2a and contacts actuated by certain of the pull bars 18a. The switch is of the make and break contact type and has two insulating blocks 80 and 9a positioned one above and one below thefree end of the rocker arm 2a. The rocker arm 2a has insulators 6a and 7a on the topand bottom of the end ofthe rocker arm 2a respectively. Four fiat spring contacts are at tached to each of the insulating blocks 8a, and 9aso as tobe spaced from each other. In the case of the upper block 8a, the contact nearestthe insulator 6a is connected to a line 112a, the next contact is connected to a line 111a, the third contact is connected to the electro-magnet 16a and the fourth contact is connected to the line 113a. A stationary contact is provided which contacts the contact nearest contactmember when; the platen 1a is in the middle position and'the rocker'arm 2a does not move either of the insulating blocks 8a or 9a, this conditionphereafter beingcalled' the middle position. The second contactis provided with a stationary contact which makes contact in the middle position' and is connected to the electromagnet 16a. The third contact is provided with a stationary contact which makes contact in the lower, position of the platen, that is when the end of the rocker armvza whichhas-the insulators 6a and 7a on theend thereof him the raised position, and is connected with a line 110a. The fourth contact is provided with a stationary contact which also makes contact in the lower position of the platen and is connected to the electro-magnet 16a.

In the case of the lower block 9a, the-contact nearest the rocker arm 2a is connected to the electro-magnet 16a, the second is also connected to the-electro-magnet, the third is connected to a line 114a and the fourth is connected to the fourth contact of-the upper insulating block 8a and, thus to line 113a. The first contact for the lower blocl; 9a is provided witha stationar-y--contact which makes contact in the middle position-ofthe platen and which is connected to-the stationary contact-foodie first contact of the-upper block 8a.- The-second contact is provided with a stationary contact whichgnakescontact in the middle position of the platen andiwhich is connected to a line 115a. The third contact is provided with ast icn ry co i h mak s ont hen th lat n isia heupper position andv which i connected toQthel ctro-tn n t 1 A line ,lfiatisqal o PEG- vided hi i connected vto the clears-magnet 16min al msi iqa q 121mm r As a result of these switch connections, the line 113a will be connected'to the electro-magnet 16a when the platen is in the upper or lower position, the line a will be connected with the electro-magnet only when the platen is in the lower position; the line 111a will be connected ,with-the electro-magnet when the platen is in the upper or middle position, the line 112a will be connected-with the-electro-magnetwhen the platen is in the middle position only, the line a will be connected with the electro-magnet whenthe platen is-in the lower or middle position, and the line 114a will be connected with the electro-magnct when the, platen .isin .the upper position only. The line 1316a will always. be connected with the'electro-magnet in all positions of the platen.

In the pathof thev rearwardmotion of the pull bars 18a which actuate type bars 4a having Thai vowels in one or more positionsthereon-which require that the spacing function be eliminated are a series of spring contacts 34a; one for each such pull bar. One side of the contact is grounded and the other side is connected by a line 35a to one of'the lines on the switch for controlling the electro-magnet 16a. The contacts-are normally open, and are closed when the particular pull bar 18a'is moved rearwardly to cause the type on the type bar actuated thereby to strike the platen. Depending on the'letters on-the type, the line 35a can be connected to-one-of the lines 110a, 111a, 112, 1132:, 114a or"115a-. Thus, if the letterson the type are an .English letter-on the top, and two Thai vowels which require that-thespacing function be eliminated in the other two positions, the -line 35a isconnected to the line 111a sothatwhenthe platen is in the lower positionthe electromagnet" 16a will-not be energised, but when the platen is in the upper or middle position, the electro-magnet will be energised. If only the lower letter on the type requires elimination of the spacing function, then the line 35aof thecontact-to the rear of the pull bar for this type is connected to line 114a, thus causing the electromagnet to be energised only when the platen is in the upper position.

In-operation, when a signal is received to type a letter in English which is on the upper rowof characters on the type, the lower two rows carrying Thai vowels which requirethatthe-spacing function be eliminated, the conventional shift mechanism will shift the platen 1a to the lower position. This-will cause the rocker arm 2a to pivot about-the-pivot 3a, and will cause the insulator 6a"tolift the insulating block 811 upwardly. This will bring'only the lines 115a, 113a and 110a into connection with the electromagnet 16a. At the same time the operating shaft 21a will be-rotated from rotation of shaft 1'3 and cam 14, therebyrotating bail 20a and moving. pull bar 118a-to the rear to cause the type bar with the proper letter thereon to pivot upwardly and strike the platen. The contact 34a to the'rear'of'the pull bar actuated will be connected to the line-111a, which is not connected-to the electro-magnet lfia when the platen is in the lower 'position; butonly when the'platen is in the middle or upper-positionwhen the Thai vowels are struck on the platen; The electro-magnet 16:: will therefore not be energised, and the spacer control link 38a will not move the spacer control crank 27. Thus the spacer bail 22a, which is'moved upwardly at the same time as the pull bar-is moved to therear will strikethe spacer control crank-27a" and will-thus pivot the escapement pawl 23a and-free the end thereof from engagementwith the tooth on the ratchet wheel 26a. When the bail 22a returns to its normalposition it will strike the otherescapement pawl Ma-and free itfrom the'ratchet wheel 26a: The ratchet wheel is thusfreed to move and will 'rotate worm gear 25a thereby spacing the type basket through the gears 32a and32b and the rack 40a.

lf, qn the. other hand, the signal requires thatone of the, aiivowelspon the same type bereproduced; the

Shift will'cause the platen,to remain in. the

middle position or be moved to the upper position. This in turn will cause, in the middle position, the lines 111a, 112a and 115a to be connected to the electro-magnet, and in the upper position, the lines 111a and 114a to be connected to the electro-magnet. The contact 34a to the rear of the pull bar 18a being connected to the line 111a, when the contact is closed, the electro-magnet will be energised, and the spacer control link 38a will move when the arm 37a is drawn against the magnet. This will cause the spacer control crank 27a to be pivoted out of the path of the bail 22a. Bail 22a cannot, therefore, cause the escapement pawl 23a to move out of engagement with the tooth on the ratchet wheel 26a, and the apparatus will not space.

It is not necessary that the English letters be on the top of the type 5a. All three characters on the type can be English letters or Thai letters for which spacing is required, in which case no contact 34 is required. All three characters can be Thai vowels which require that the spacing function be eliminated, in which case the contact 34 is connected to line 136a. In this instance the electro-magnet 16a will be energised in every position of the platen. The English letter could be on the bottom of the type, in which case the platen would have to be at the upper position to be struck thereby. In this instance, the contact 34 would be connected to line 115a, which would energise the electromagnet and thus eliminate the spacing function only when the platen is in the middle or lower position. From the foregoing, other combinations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

Having thus disclosed the invention, What is claimed is:

1. In a teleprinter receiving apparatus having a shiftable platen, a plurality of type bars forming a type basket, means for actuating the type bars for striking the platen, code bars for selecting which of the type bars are to be actuated, operating means operable in response to a received signal for operating the actuating means, means having a ratchet and pawls therein for spacing the type basket along an axis parallel to the platen each time the operating means actuates the actuating means, a bail driven by the actuating means and acting on the pawls, and type mounted on the type bars having a plurality of characters thereon, at least one character of which is such as to require that the spacing means not space the type basket when said one character is struck on the platen, the combination of shift means operable in response to the received signal for shifting the platen into one of three positions for being struck by one of the characters on said type, and a spacer control member pivoted to one of the pawls, and electro-magnetic means pivotally connected to said spacer control member and actuated by the shift means for pivoting said spacer control member out of the path of the bail, thereby preventing the operation of said ratchet and pawls and when the shift means has shifted the platen to a position to be struck by said one character.

2. In a teleprinter receiving apparatus having a platen mounted on a rocker arm for shifting movement to a plurality of shift positions, a plurality of type bars forming a type basket, means for actuating the type bars for striking the platen comprising an operating shaft with an operating bail thereon and pull levers actuated by the operating bail, code bars for selecting which of the type bars are to be actuated, operating means operable in response to a received signal for operating the operating shaft, means having a ratchet and pawls therein for spacing the type basket along an axis parallel to the platen each time the operating means actuates the operating shaft, a bail driven by the operating shaft and acting on the pawls, and type mounted on the type bars having a character thereon for each of the shift positions, at least one character of which is such as to require that the spacing means not space the type basket when said one character is struck on the platen, the combination of shift means operable in response to the received signal for pivoting the rocker arm on which the platen is mounted into one of the plurality of positions for being struck by one of the characters on said type, a spacer control crank pivoted to one of the pawls, an electro-magnet having a spring loaded arm thereon linked to said spacer control crank, and selector means for energising said electro-magnet for pivoting the spacer control crank out of the path of the bail comprising contacts in the path of the pull levers for the type bars having the characters thereon which require the elimination of the spacing function and switch means actuated by the pivoting or the rocker arm carrying the platen for selectively 'energising the electro-magnet when said contacts are closed under the effect of the actuating means and the rocker arm has shifted the platen to the position in which the platen is to be struck by the character requiring the elimination of the spacing function.

3. The improvement as claimed in claim 2 in which said switch means comprise a make-and-break type con tact in which the contacts are made and broken by the action of the free end of the rocker arm thereon.

No references cited. 

